Poison and the Attitude
by Shika Mizu
Summary: In the Solariam Region, only twice a year does Prof. Camile let new trainers have their starter Pokemon. The day when Ayden was supposed to get her new Pokemon will be one that she will surely never forget.
1. Chapter 1: To the Lab!

"Go, Jolteon

"_Go, Jolteon!" _

"_Go, Omastar!"_

_The two trainers called out their Pokémon, both of them tossing red and white Pokéballs into the battlefield. The Pokéballs opened, and with a red glowing light, a yellow thunderbolt-shaped fox appeared. On the other end of the field, a teal and beige Snail-like Pokémon appeared._

_The trainers differed greatly. One of them was a girl; one who wore a small black shirt and long baggy olive-colored pants. Her hair was waist-length, a gentle auburn color with a black hat covering the top of her head. The Jolteon was on her side, fierce electricity surrounding its body._

"_Jolteon, use Thunder!"_

_And with that the electricity surrounding it became stronger and stronger as it shoots for the Omastar._

"_Jolt! Jolteee!" The Pokémon shouted as it sent electric volts faster and faster to its foe._

_The Omastar's owner was very shady; darkness covering his face with merely a white T-shirt and jeans. You could hear a gasp escaping his mouth._

_The Omastar took all it could, and by the time the electricity stopped, it was badly hurt. _

_The snail-like Pokémon, with all it had left, shot towards the Jolteon with a fierce attack, but the Jolteon managed to—_

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The alarm clocked blared, the sound seeming to be as loud as it could. The same auburn-haired girl finally awoke, her black and red blanket thrown over her head. '_Shut up…I'll be up soon…' _She thought to herself as she grabbed her pillow and pushed it against her head. She hated waking up, especially this early on a Saturday.

With a sigh, she tossed the covers to the floor, getting up and grabbing the plain purple alarm clock, her palm quickly hitting the top to shut it off. She stretched her arms a bit, the clock still in her hand, and with a yawn she looked at the time.

"Neh, I overslept just a bit… Oh well, if I hurry I can make it…" She set the clock down, back where it once was, and headed out the door of her room to the next, which happened to be her bathroom. She was pretty cranky, a bit more so then she usually was, and she thought that she wouldn't make a very good impression on the professor and the new Pokémon if she were like this.

'_Maybe…A shower…_' Maybe that would change her mood. She closed the door, locking it behind her, and took a shower.

Several minutes later she came out, out of her pale purple pajamas and into the uniform from her dream. She headed back towards her room, to her mirror so she could comb her hair. The girl tried to be as quick as she could, for the professor might get tired of waiting for her and give her Pokémon to another trainer instead.

A light knock came to her door as she was finishing up her hair.

"Ayden? Are you up yet? You're going to be late."

It was her Grandmother, Rose.

"Yeah, I'm awake. I'll head out in a second." As she spoke she put on her hat and tied her shoes.

Even though Ayden couldn't tell with the door between them, her grandmother smiled. "Alright. I hope you get the Pokémon you wanted."

Ayden smirked. "Thanks."

Her grandmother was the only other girl in the house, if she even counted as a girl. Besides Rose, her father also lives with her. She had had a brother living with her as well, but he ran off and married some girl named Liz in the Kanto Region. It was pretty lonely since then, and she never smiled all that much since then, but sometimes she can't help but smirk. She'd only so much as be polite to her family otherwise.

A few seconds later she appeared outside of her door, pulling on her backpack as she reached the kitchen. She wondered where her dad was. 'Hm…Grandma's gone, too…'

She decided not to look for them; she was late as it was.

She grabbed a nutrition bar from a cabinet and rushed out of the home. She crouched down once she reached the sidewalk, pressing a button on each of her shoes that made wheels pop out from underneath. She had to be as quick as she could or the Professor would give her Pokémon to the next available trainer.

On her roller blade shoes she glided along the sidewalk. In one hand she held a temporary ID so she could get the Pokémon. In the other she carried a crumpled up map; she didn't think she needed it at all. She was wrong, though. She couldn't figure out where she was. Too stubborn to use the map, she glided in random directions.

She stopped at a corner, waiting for traffic to pass by her. Ayden felt some tugging on her shirt from behind her. She looked back, only to see a young boy look up at her. He looked about…Six, she thought. With yellow hair that stuck out of his red reversed cap. He also had a white and blue striped shirt, and brown shorts that went past his knees. His eyes showed a pinch of sadness.

"Um, excuse me, miss! Are you going to get a Pokémon from the professor today?" The child looked a bit worried as he stared up at the girl. Ayden shrugged. "Yeah. Why?" Cars were still passing by.

The boy looked down at his feet. "Um…Can my brother have it instead? He's been waiting for one for two whole years!" He then looked up to her eyes.

How would Ayden react to this? Sure, she hasn't waited as long, but it was her turn still. She couldn't listen to a crying baby all day though.

She decided what to say, though it might not have been the wisest decision. She patted the boy's head, a careless look on her face. "Sorry, kid, but I was the one who was picked this year, not him." The boy started to cry, which surprised Ayden in a certain way. She was expecting it, sure, but how to handle it? She was never good with kids; she barely knew how to be one.

Before she could do anything though, the child ran away. She didn't bother going after him, seeing as it was finally time to cross the street. She shrugged it off and continued skating along.

She passed by many shops. The town was filled with lots of small shops filled with just about anything. She was walking through the market area of the town, which stood respectively in the middle of everything. A small purple figure was quietly following her. What could it be?

As Ayden took a final turn, she could see that there were no more shops around. Instead, there are many homes, most with a beige and pink theme. The small creature still quietly followed behind her. Ayden hadn't noticed it until she heard a soft "Nii." And as a result, turned around. She looked down, seeing a purple dinosaur-like Pokémon. It looked right back up at her with its purple eyes.

"Nii!" It called to her again. She wasn't familiar with that Pokémon, and when she got closer to it, it ran off. _Just like that kid…_ she thought to herself. Just as before she shrugged it off and turned back around, continuing to walk along the path to the professor's lab.

Before she knew it, and just as she had looked down at her watch, she was already there. She sighed, and admired the laboratory's beauty. She didn't think many things looked pretty, but she had always liked the designs of buildings.


	2. Chapter 2: The Little Boy Strikes Back

The lab itself looked pretty small, perhaps a bit bigger looking on the inside, but around it was a big park where many Pokémon could be seen playing and relaxing. To stop Pokémon from straying, there was a nice medium-sized picket fence all around it. A tan sidewalk was right in front of the fence so random passersby could look at the Pokémon.

Far away to the right of the lab, there was a huge forest with many berries on the trees, though the inside of the forest looked too dark to be able to grow anything other then trees. Ayden walked the path to the lab, knocking on the plain white door.

She waited and waited, with no answer. Ayden impatiently knocked again, but interrupted at the second knock when she heard footsteps running towards her from behind.

When she turned around, she saw a lady with pale brown hair in a ponytail run up to her. She was in a lab coat, with an ID on her shirt that said "Prof. Camilie".

"…Professor?" asked Ayden. Was this the professor who would give her the Pokémon? She looked a little too…young for a Professor. But, looks might as well be deceiving.

She looked closely at Camilie, who was out of breath. Her hands rested on her bent knees and she was breathing heavily. Finally, when she caught her breath again, she looked back at Ayden. "Hey…you wouldn't happen to be the new trainer, Ayden, wouldn't you?" Ayden nodded in response, unsure of what exactly to expect.

She scratched the back of her head, her mouth forming a frown. "I'm sorry to say, but the last Pokémon we had available was stolen by a young boy when I wasn't looking. He's quick, so it was hard for me to catch up to him."

Ayden looked down, thinking for a bit about what to do. Finally, she just decided to go and get the Pokémon back. "I'm gonna go look for him. You can stay here." The professor nodded in disagreement. "No, I better go, too. I want to make sure everything is all right."

Ayden merely shrugged as she always does, and began to jog off into the direction that Camilie was coming from. The professor sighed, watching Ayden run, then took a deep breath, clearly observing that she had to run again, and quickly tried to catch up to Ayden.

The two kept on running and running in the same direction, the professor having a hard time keeping up with Ayden. She bet that the professor felt pretty old, seeing as she was quite faster then her. The truth was, though, that Ayden used to be on a track team.

Ayden heard rustling behind them, like something was following them closely. Ayden stopped in her tracks, followed by Camilie staring at her in confusion, and turned around to see the same purple Pokémon that Ayden had seen before. Well, it looked like the same one..

"Hey, you're--" Ayden got cut off. "My newly captured Nidoran! Maybe he can help us!" Although the professor said this, she wasn't really sure how the saving would be made. She picked up the Pokémon and handed it to Ayden. "Carry him so he doesn't get lost."

Ayden paused for a moment, holding the Nidoran a bit away from her body. Camilie started to rush Ayden. "Come on, we might lose that boy." She said even though she was practically out of breath. Ayden nodded and started running again.

The Nidoran sniffed Ayden a bit, getting used to her smell. He seemed to like the sent, and lightly shouted "Nii!" Ayden, not being able to hide it, smiled. She thought it was kinda...cute. Wow. Was Ayden feeling alright?

As they continue to run, something trips the professor. Ayden saw a purple snake-like Pokémon in the professor's path. It was angered, and was about to attack Camilie. She shouted, "Ayden! Attack the Ekans! Tell Nidoran to use Peck!"

Ayden panicked a bit. How is she expected to know how to battle?! "Just call out 'Use peck!' " The Ekans was going to bite her any minute. Ayden paused a bit more, then with a very slight panic, she shouted "Nidoran, use peck!" and the purple Pokémon in her arms jumped out and struck one of its horns at Ekans. After the hit, the Ekans slid away, injured.

Camilie, still out of breath, got up and smiled. "Good job! Come on, I have a feeling we're almost there!" Ayden picked the Nidoran back up and they both continued on. _'Was battling really that easy?' _She thought. Now that she got the first attack out of the way, which seemed to her to be the only one that she'd feel troubled with, she felt that battling would be the simplest thing in the world.

Just a few more yards before they reach the end of the forest. At first they miss the boy, but then with a check again they see him, with an older boy, at least a year older then Ayden. '_That boy...I saw him before...'_ Ayden and Prof. Camilie listened in to their conversation.

"Come on, brother! I got this just for you!" The boy shouted, holding the Pokéball up towards his brother.

The apparent brother had brown hair, a bit long and spiked downwards. He was wearing a plain collared shirt, the color of red, with some pale blue jeans.

"Sammy, for the last time, where did you get that?" Of course he wasn't just going to take the Pokémon without any explanation.

The young boy, now dubbed Sammy, seemed a bit panicked.

"It doesn't matter! It's yours now!" He practically shoved the Pokéball in his older brother's face at this point.

The older boy seemed a bit...ashamed of 'Sammy.'

"Sammy..."

Prof. Camilie decided it was the time to step forward, making it obvious that they were both there. The young boy freaked out, realizing he got caught.

To the professor's surprise, he didn't try to run again. Instead, he actually made an apology. "I'm sorry! It's just...My brother!" He pointed to the older boy. "My brother has been waiting for way too long! Let him have it! Please..."

Camilie sighed, unsure of what to do. Ayden merely looked down at the purple Nidoran in her arms that looked back up at her very curiously. Ayden then looked at Camilie. She had an idea. '_Maybe…'_

"Um, Professor..." Ayden was about to ask her something. "It's fine with me if he takes that Pokémon. But, may I have Nidoran?" She felt a bit weird asking such a thing. Heck, she felt weird asking for any sort of favor. But, she felt if she didn't offer, then the little boy would never leave her alone.

The professor turned to Ayden, smiling. "Well Ayden, that's pretty kind of you. Of course, that's fine with me. Nidoran seems to like you, anyway." The little boy jumped for joy. "Yaay!" He exclaimed.

"Just come to my lab. Both of you." With that she walked back to the lab, going around the forest this time, the long way, but it's better then running into more Ekans.

The older boy just stood there for a minute, a bit in shock and definitely curiosity. His little brother tugged at the bottom of his shirt a bit.

"Brother, come on! Let's go!" He said very impatiently.

The older brother sighed, showing a big smile, then following the two girls back to the laboratory. He was surprised, but happy. Happy that, for some reason, he finally got a Pokémon.

Mostly, he was curious as to how he got it in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3: Finally a Trainer!

"So…Uh…What exactly is going on?"

Poor guy. He was sitting in the Professor's Lab, just confused. His brother seemed excited, kicking his feet at the couch he was sitting on. Ayden stood beside the two of them, her arms crossed and waiting. Not impatiently but…just bored.

"You know you're getting a Pokémon, why worry about the details?" Ayden didn't feel the need for explaining anything. Nothing important he really needed to know.

The boy looked down at the ground for a moment. "Uh…I suppose you're right." He felt a little tense, and Ayden certainly wasn't making it any better.

"Stay here a sec, kay?" Camilie said, retreating to another room for whatever reason. Moments later the Professor returned with two bags. She handed one to Ayden and one to the boy. She smiled brightly.

"Here you go! Your Pokémon, along with 5 Pokéballs, a Pokédex, a Pokénav, and a map of the region!" She said joyfully. It wasn't every day she got to give out Pokémon to new trainers, certainly. She was happy she got to make an extra person happy especially.

Ayden paused for a moment, looking at the bag. "Are you sure Nidoran is in this one?" She always wondered how Trainers could tell. Prof. Camilie merely nodded, and Ayden grabbed the bag and thanked her. Although…she still wasn't very sure.

The boy stared at the bag his was given. "…What Pokémon did I get, anyway?" He wasn't sure of the situation, but he was sure he was getting a Pokémon. Which one though?

Camilie smiled and put her finger to her lip. "You'll find out later. Good luck on your new journey, trainers! Let's hope you meet lots of new Pokémon and make friends along the way, and fulfill your dreams!" Ah, the grand goodbye speech. How she loved to say it.

Ayden nodded, just going along with it, and headed out the door. The male trainer followed behind, with his younger brother by his side. Once they headed out the door, the boy felt it necessary to say something to her.

"Hey…" He managed to call out, hoping that she heard him. His brother, Sammy, looked up curiously at him.

Ayden turned his head to him, wondering if that was directed to her. "Yeah?" She replied, rather quietly, just in case it wasn't for her.

"So, one way or another we're both trainers today, right? That means we share something in common. My name's Alex." He thought the start to a journey is the best time to try to make a friend.

Even if she seemed to have a bit of an…attitude.

With this, Ayden turned around completely. Ayden felt the same way, though maybe a few words could be changed around. "Uh, hey, I'm Ayden." She nodded to him, not really knowing what else to say.

It seemed Alex was quite unsure of what to do as well, so he just stood there for a moment. "I gotta go get ready for this journey now, as it seems. But I hope I can see you later on somewhere along the way." He nodded, and took his brother and walked off.

Ayden stood there a bit, watching them walk off, then bringing her eyes to the bag in her hand. _'Maybe I should…Pack up?' _She already had her green messenger bag with her, no use carrying another.

She walked over to a tall tree beside the Lab, and sat under it so she was nice in the shade. She dumped the contents out of the bag the Professor gave her and examined them a bit.

Yep, every thing she said would be in there is there. Well, it looked that way at least. She wasn't exactly sure what half of the things she said were, though she'd never admit that.

She looked at the 6 Pokéballs that fell from the bag in front of her, her face expressing puzzlement. _'Uh, okay…which one has the Pokémon in it?'_ She honestly wasn't sure. So, one by one she picked up a Pokéball and called out the Nidoran. It emerged from the third ball and Ayden sighed.

She reached into her back pocket, pulling out a sheet of stickers, which had different shapes in various colors. "Well…good thing I had these then." A young girl, a granddaughter of her grandma's friend, who had maybe 5 sheets of stickers once offered them to her, and she didn't want to seem entirely mean so she just took it. Good decision.

She peeled out a purple star and stuck it on the Pokéball she had released her Nidoran from. Petting the Pokémon beside her, she put the leftover Pokéballs in her right side pocket, and the rest of the things she got from the professor in her bag. She got up, took a stretch, and then stared down at her Pokémon.

Time to start a friendship with what seemed to be the most important friend to make: her first Pokémon. "So…haven't really gotten to know you yet. Wanna take a walk?" The Nidoran nodded with a smile and Ayden started taking a quiet stroll.

Not too long into the walk and Ayden's home was only shortly back in her sight. Nidoran ran behind her, trying to keep up even though she was merely walking.

Once Ayden was almost positive that the homes were in that little dinosaur's sight, she pointed loosely to her home and looked to her Nidoran. "That's my house. Wanna meet my family?" The Nidoran happily agreed and off they went. Ayden walked a bit slowly so her Pokémon could follow easily, not particularly in the mood to carry him.

Ayden, eventually, made it to the front door of her house. She grabbed a key chain from one of her pockets, picked out a silver key with three holes in it, and unlocked the door with it. She peeked inside, but no one was near the front door.

She opened the door wider, and brought her whole body inside. Her Nidoran slowly walked in and examined what parts of the home he could see. "You guys here?" She called out, loud enough so it could hopefully be heard throughout her home.

They weren't there when she was leaving; they might not be there now. And…they weren't. She didn't get a response, just silence. Ayden called out again, waiting a bit more then before. She then shrugged to her Nidoran.

"I don't think they're here. Come on, they might be at the marketplace." If not, where else could they be? Probably just needed to get some grocery shopping out of the way or something.

Nidoran seemed to understand, replying with that never-gets-old "Nii." And off she goes, her Pokémon following close behind as she heads towards the town square.

Little did she realize she was about to live one of the most embarrassing parts of her life.


	4. Chapter 4: Embarrassment King's Finest

Hey guys, thanks for the reviews. I'm really sorry I keep the chapters short, but I tend to plan out my endings so they have an impact on the next chapter. What happens in between first comes what information I feel like putting in, then fillers if enough people complain. I'm not a very good writer—what can I do?

-

With Ayden and Nidoran only two feet away from the Marketplace, their attention was immediately brought to some strange man dancing around and making weird noises. Everyone else was just staring at him in confusion.

'_Wait…Is that…?"_

And the man turned around. "Oh, hiiii Aydeen! Lookie what I got! At a bargain price, too!" He was doing a weird jig like he was a 5 year-old on Christmas morning.

She sighed. "…Hi, dad." _Everybody_ was staring at her now.

There was a small Mexican-looking man behind him, who tied a sack full of who knows what around his neck. He waved to Ayden's father and shouted "Adios!" before running off. He looked like…a scammer.

Ayden's father ran up to her, breaking her personal space, which made her a bit annoyed. He looked off past her shoulder.

"Is that the Pokémon you got?" He looked surprised, and a little bit disappointed. "I was expecting something a little more, you know, one of the three Pokémon you had to choose from."

His phrasing was weird. Ayden was about to point out that it was a Nidoran when he immediately changed the subject.

"Anyways, honey, lookiiie here!" He shoved a Pokéball to her face. "I got this awesome Pokémon from that man for only 500 yen! Here, just for you!" Ayden looked at the Pokéball, almost positive of its contents.

"You sure it isn't empty?" She pointed out to him. He paused for a second, looking at the Pokéball, then shook it off.

"Nonsense! See for yourself, would ya?" He acted insistent that there was a Pokémon in there, although Ayden could tell he really wasn't all that sure.

Well, worth a shot.

"Here goes…something." Ayden said as she took the Pokéball. She looked at it for a moment. Then she pointed it towards a random blank spot on the floor. Pushing the button, the Pokéball enlarged it self a little more then twice it's size. "Go, Pokémon!"

The Pokéball opened.

A red laser-like thing came out.

It formed an odd shape.

The newly emerged Pokémon, now with color and a definite shape, was…flailing against the floor.

"…" The both paused for a moment. Even Nidoran was surprised.

"…A Magikarp, dad?" She folded her arms. Boy, was he a sucker. Glaring at him a bit, she noticed he looked deeply…depressed, but in a childish kinda way.

Then, of course, he went bipolar.

"Not to worry! This Pokémon may look like nothing special, but one day it will be one of the most awesomest parts of your team!" He said. He took the Pokéball back, called back the Pokémon, and then handed it back to her happily.

"There you go, honey! I'm glad I could help you get your second Pokémon! I'm off now 'kaythankiesbyebye!" Then…he ran off. Ayden sighed again, her Nidoran confused beyond belief.

"That's just my dad, Nidoran. Don't worry, he's only that scary the first time couple of times you meet him. You'll get used to it." Nidoran was still uneasy…

Ayden shrugged. "Let's just look for grandma, then we'll be off, kay?" Another "Nii." Parted from Nidoran's mouth and they continued through the marketplace. Some random people started noticing her. _'Seems like dad made me…"popular"…Great.'_ Not really like it mattered; she'd be out of this place for a while soon.

"Hn, lots of people here…" She mumbled, picking up her purple poison Pokémon. She could imagine someone stepping on it, maybe one of the poison spikes. Heh.

"Ayden, honey, is that you?" A familiar voice called out. Grandma. She turned around to see the gray-haired woman smile at her. "Looks like you've got your Pokémon!" She got closer and pet it's forehead gently. Nidoran enjoyed it. "It doesn't look like any of the starter Pokémon that I saw though."

Ayden sighed. "Yeah. Long story, but to cut it short I gave it to someone else and took this little stalker instead." Little Stalker? Nidoran looked a bit annoyed by that.

Her grandma laughed a bit by Nidoran's reaction and petted its cheek. "Well, that was very kind of you, you know. Did it make them happy?" She made eye contact with Ayden and smiled again.

"Uh…more confused then happy, but yeah." She shrugged her shoulders yet again, remembering how confused he was. Didn't matter if he was happy to get that Pokémon, as long as that little brat finally shut up.

Rose, her grandma, nodded. "Well, I bet you want to go off on your journey now, don't you? Go on now – and have fun. You have our house number in your phone; don't forget to call. I will worry about you, as will your father." She patted Ayden's head. She sighed. "I know, grandma." What's with old people and calling?

She turned her back away from her grandma, her eyes still looking at her. "Bye for now. I'll see you when I see you." She wasn't good at goodbyes, so she left it at that. Her grandma waved at her. "Goodbye, Ayden!" There went her grandchild; off to start her Pokémon journey like Rose did once did long ago. Ah, she could remember it like it was yesterday…But what was her first Pokémon again?

When Ayden walked, for the most part, out of her grandma's sight, she looked down at Nidoran. "So, do you think any of the junk the Professor gave me will tell me where I gotta go?" It was a rhetorical question; how would he know? She looked around for something to sit on, when she eyed a bench. It was empty of people, too. The red-head placed her Pokémon on the seat of the bench and sat next to it. She placed her bag on her lap and looked through it. Electrical junk, Pokéballs, and…a modern scroll-like thing.

She fumbled with it, trying to get it open, finally figuring out that she had to hold down the center button and pull it open. It was a Town Map, apparently. She looked for her town, then studied the trail. To get out, she had to go through the same forest she saw when chasing that Sammy kid, then Magikarp lake, and finally the next town. Zubar Town was what the label said, but the description on the side said it didn't have a gym…

Oh well, looks like she'll be just plain training for a while. She stood up. "Come on, Nidoran. We got a while before any gym battles so we might as well get started getting there." The purple Pokémon nodded and jumped off of the bench to follow her.

Putting the map back in her bag, they both went off to the forest, and since they were surrounded by forest, Ayden had to wonder if she was going the right way…Oh well, she could trust her gut sometimes.

…Sometimes.


	5. Chapter 5: A New Friend?

_Edit: Sorry for reuploading this, but it wouldn't change the file I used. . I edited the chapter, and tried making Marley a little less annoying…Hope it worked._

_Finally, the writer's block is over! I hope you guys are still interested in reading this._

_Just a note, I know Nidorans can't use tackle, but please bear with me! Thanks. _

--

As Ayden approached the forest, she sighed heavily, clutching her flashlight. Her Nidoran beside her seemed quite scared of the darkness before them. Ayden shrugged. "It's no big deal, come on!"

"…Nii." Nidoran responded in a nervous tone. After a moment or two, Ayden was ready to go.

"Well, let's get this thing over with. It's this trail or nothing." She said as she walked past the trees, her purple pokémon hesitating to follow behind her.

Too bad she didn't see the clean trail through the forest a little while away from her, huh?

As they walked, it got darker and darker around them; the light from the outside got covered more and more by the trees the farther they walked into the forest. Who knew a place like this could be THIS dark?

Nidoran was really jumpy, getting scared of each and every little noise he heard.

After a little while, Ayden turned around, noticing her pokémon like this. She crouched down in front of it, and he immediately jumped to her head. Safer there. Ayden shrugged it off and kept walking, her pokémon aiming not to slip off.

"Calm down, there's much scarier places in the world." She said to Nidoran, reminiscing the time she discovered the horrors of her father's bathroom. Never. Again. EVER. She shuddered.

Ayden flashed her flashlight about. She heard a loud noise, that of a Pidgey, perhaps, which made her jump, her flashlight hitting the ground and turning off. "Uh...I'll get it." She said as she stepped forward, tripping on…something. Her purple pokémon fell off her head, and began panicking at the darkness.

Ayden sighed, with her face against the ground. "I'm okay…" she said quietly to her Pokémon. _'But…what did I trip on?' _ She said as she kicked the thing at her feet. Suddenly, it flashed electricity into a bright light, almost blinding Ayden. Her Nidoran jumped and hid behind a tree.

She squinted her eyes. A…Pokémon? She reached into her bag quickly with the light that the Pokémon flashed, and pulled out her Pokédex, which was of the color red. She held it towards the electrifying creature before her.

_Luxio, the Spark Pokémon. It's powerful claws let out electricity pulses with enough power to make it's opponent faint. Most are found in small packs, although it is not rare to see one out on it's own._

"Hm, Luxio? What a weird name." She said, angering the Pokémon. She turned to the tree behind her. "You can take it on, right Nidoran?" Her Pokémon did not answer, shaking from horn to paw. Ayden sighed. "Well, that's great then."

"Raaawh!" Shouted the bothered cat-like Pokémon as its electricity moved to shock Ayden. 'Ahh!" She shouted, her arms covering her face, trying to move away.

"Nidoran, tackle!" Shouted an unfamiliar voice. A blue Pokémon, similar to Ayden's purple one, tackled the Luxio, knocking it down and stopping the electric waves. Soon, the cat-Pokémon fled, and the unfamiliar voice made herself known, stepping forward to Ayden

"Hey, you okay?" She said, reaching out a hand to her. She had a covered lamp in her other hand, which illuminated the whole forest around them.

Ayden grabbed the hand, recovering from the electric shock. "I…think so." She said, looking at the girl. She had short purple hair, with green eyes to boot. Her shirt was black and similar to Ayden's, but the texture a bit more leathery and the sleeves to her elbows. There was a red short-sleeved jacket over it, and three-quarter jeans as her pants. She smiled and nodded.

"Good! Hey, my name's Marley, and this is my partner, Nidoran!" She said as the blue Pokémon approached her. Ayden looked curiously at it.

"Yeah, my name's Ayden. And I have a Nidoran, too, but it looks a bit different then that…" She said, turning around to the tree behind her, seeing her pokémon abandon its fright and gain curiosity to it's equivalent.

Marley giggled lightly. "Oh, that's because your Nidoran's a boy! You see, the girl ones are blue and the males are purple. They evolve into different things, too, sorta!" Ayden sweatdropped. _'Thanks for the information I didn't ask for…'_ We all love her attitude.

Ayden's Nidoran let its curiosity take over, moving from the tree, slowly to its female form. He sniffed her, and she did the same. After a while, they were friendly to one another, sensing that neither of them was dangerous.

Marley laughed…again. And turned to Ayden. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we get out of this place together? You heading to Zubar town, too?" Ayden nodded. "Yeah, I am. And, why not? We'll go with you." She said looking down at her broken flashlight. _'No use fixing that…helpful device.'_

So, there they went, walking through the forest side by side, their Pokémon behind them. Marley tried making conversation. "You know, my Nidoran really wants to evolve into a Nidorina." She told Ayden, not taking her eyes off of the route in front of them. The redhead glanced over to her. "Yeah? That's Nidoran's evolved form, right?" She never considered evolving her own Pokémon yet.

She nodded. "Yep, we've been training forever, but she still hasn't evolved yet. We gotta keep training!" She said with a big smile. Ayden sort of admired the determination. "Hey, I have another idea. When we get out of here, how 'bout we have a battle?" Marley asked her.

Ayden shrugged. "Uh, well, I'm just a rookie trainer. I only have Nidoran and a certain…less-admirable Pokémon." She said, her father meanwhile feeling a shock of anger around him.

"No problem, we could just have Nidoran against Nidoran! Let's just battle!" Marley responded, and Ayden nodded. "Sure." She was so persistent.

Soon there was light piercing through the trees in front of them. Marley jumped and pointed forward. "Hey, we're almost there!" She said, starting to run. Ayden paused for a moment, seeing their Pokémon pass her. '_Eh, what the heck.'_ She thought to herself as she tried to catch up with them.

As Ayden herself made it out of the forest, she could see Marley and the Pokémon waiting for her. "What took ya?" The purple-haired girl said.

"I couldn't see; you're the one with the lamp." She responded, looking away with her arms crossed.

Marley sweatdropped. "Eheh, sorry about that." She said, scratching the back of her head, than she began waving her arms out of nowhere. "But, let's battle already!"

So, adjacent to Lake Magikarp, the two trainers stood across from each other in battle position, the male Nidoran beside Ayden, and the female beside Marley. _'Oh, the epic pause for effect.'_ Ayden thought.

"You ready, red-head?" Marley intimidated, with a smirk.

"Yep." Ayden responded flatly.

Then, completely in sync, the two trainers called out:

"Go, Nidoran!" As both of their Pokémon stepped forward.


	6. Chapter 6: The First Battle

Sorry these always take so long, guys. But with the combination of school and the lack of inspiration, things have been slow.

_Hope you like it even so!_

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"You first, kay?" Said Marley, wanting to see what Ayden could do. She knew it was her first battle against another trainer, so she wanted to make it worthwhile.

"Hmph." Ayden hesitated, trying to figure out what Nidoran's moveset could be. _'I know all Pokémon start out with some crappy non-offensive move, but what else?'_

She glanced over to Marley, who stared back with her game-face on. She then looked to the blue Nidoran with its sharp poison-tipped horn…Hm…Maybe…?

"Nidoran, Poison sting!" Ayden finally commanded. But her Pokémon looked back in confusion. She sighed, shrugging. "Well, I'm screwed." Her Nidoran sweatdropped, wondering why Ayden had gave up so quickly.

Marley smiled, scratching the back of her ear. "Hey, how about I help you out? Your Nidoran looks to be about level 4, so it definitely knows the moves Peck and Leer." It felt nice to know stuff sometimes, I suppose.

"Oh?" Ayden said. "Well, okay. Nidoran, get in there and try out Peck, will ya?" He nodded at her, soon after jumping forwards to his blue counterpart, attacking it with its horn. The female Pokémon attempted to dodge, but still getting the side of her ear scratched in the process. She falls hard to the floor, not hesitating to get back up. The blue Pokémon smirked, seeming to want to get more aggressive.

Marley nodded, pleased with the purple Nidoran's efforts. "Hey, not bad, for a rookie. Let's show them what we're made of, Nina. Use double kick!" She pointed forwards, her Pokémon soon swiftly jumping over to its foe, kicking it rapidly and sending him backwards towards her trainer's feet.

The redhead gasped. "Nidoran, you alright?" Ayden said, crouching down to her Pokémon. It had scratches on its face, and struggled to get up. When it did, it cried out "Nii!" in a battle-ready tone.

Ayden's lips formed a smile. "Heh, alright, now get back in there. Let's try peck again!" Marley laughed at Ayden's newfound confidence.

Nidoran shook off the pain, plunging back towards the female Nidoran headfirst. He tackled her to the ground, using its peck attack as they fell. The female Nidoran got angrier, kicking the Pokémon off, then tackling it down herself, using the move Scratch against her foe.

"Hey, Nidoran, calm down!" Marley shouted, rushing to her Pokémon to pull her off of her prey. Ayden ran forward as well, taking her own Nidoran into her arms.

The female Nidoran kicked about, her trainer holding her at arms-length, looking at her. "Nina, it's just a battle between friends. No need to get so worked up, okay?" Nidoran scoffed and turned her head to the side. Marley sighed, and placed her Pokémon down on the floor.

"Sorry about that, Red-Head. Is Nidoran alright?" She looked towards the purple Pokémon, seeing scrapes and bruises on it.

Marley paused.

"Oh, oh, hey! I know!" She said, rushing to her bag. Ayden's face changed to a WTF expression, wondering how she could get so un-serious all of a sudden.

Finally, the purple-haired girl got what she was looking for, pulling out a spray bottle, jumping and saying "Ta daaaa! This will help your Pokémon!" to Ayden.

This time, Ayden paused.

"Uh…what is it?" She said flatly.

"Oh, uh…Its a potion. It heals your Pokémon! Cool, huh? " Marley responded, walking back to the purple Nidoran, holding the spray bottle towards it. "This'll sting a bit…but don't worry, it'll make you better!" She said as she sprayed it on the Nidoran's scratches, rubbing in the potion.

After Marley got to put the potion on all of Nidoran's injuries, Ayden placed him on the floor, and they both watched him sit up and smile, good as new. "I'm sorry about my Nidoran, she can be aggressive sometimes. I told you about how much she wants to evolve." Ayden nodded. "It's okay. I heard you call your Nidoran Nina before. Is that her nickname?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah! I call her that sometimes. It can tell our Pokémon apart for now, so I like it!" The red head shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

A couple of feet behind her, Nidoran sat, her back facing them. Her mind was clouded with the frustration that normally associates young female Nidoran during battle. A few Pokémon slowly began to approach her, little did she realize until they were close enough to attack.

"Nii!"

The trainers turned their heads towards the shriek, seeing the blue Nidoran face to face with a large Pokémon and two younger forms beside it.

"What the?!" Ayden shouted, pulling out her Pokédex. She pointed it to the two smaller Pokémon first, in a rush.

Ekans, the Snake Pokémon. This Pokémon normally eats eggs of Spearow and Pidgey whole, although it can detach its jaw to eat bigger prey.

"Oh, that sounds just great." Ayden said, pointing her Pokédex to the larger, more intimidating Pokémon.

Arbok, the Cobra Pokémon. The pattern on Arbok's belly is used for intimidation. It constricts its prey when they are too frozen to attack.

"Shoot, what are we gonna do?" Marley questioned, looking towards Ayden. She stared at the Arbok in a daze.

She wasn't quite thinking of a plan, though. Something else dwelled in her mind…

"Could that be…?" Ayden mumbled. "Could that be what?" Questioned Marley.

She then flashbacked to the time she got her Pokémon. As she was recovering the starter Pokémon she was supposed to get, an Ekans stopped her and Prof. Camilie in her tracks. The markings of that Ekans and this Arbok are similar, so…

"Uh, I think I've met that Arbok before. I guess it wants revenge." Ayden shrugged.

Suddenly, the blue Nidoran tackles the Arbok, still pumped up with rage. Angered, the two Ekans jump and bite her to the ground, Nidoran now struggling to get them off.

"Alright, no time for questions now. Nidoran!" Ayden calls to her own Pokémon, who is now standing at her side and looking up at her with intensity. "Go and help out Nina!"

The purple Pokémon nodded, and ran in to tackle the two Ekans back with his horns. After Nina was set free, the Arbok decided to step in, tangling them both in a constrict attack.

Marley shouted to them, both her and Ayden wondering what to do. She rushed to pull a Pokéball off of her belt. "I think I know how to make this more fair!" Ayden looked over to her with a questionable expression on her face.

"Come on out, Venonat!" She threw the Pokéball forwards, towards the snake Pokémon, and out emerged a furry purple bug-like Pokémon. It started hopping about and shouting "Veno. Nat!"

"Make me proud, Venonat! Help out your friends!" Marley called, and the Venonat turned towards the Pokémon. The two Ekans aimed to tackle him down like they did with Nidoran , but this didn't quite go as well as they planned.

"Venonat, Disable!" She shouted, causing Venonat to shoot beams of blue out towards the Ekans, stopping them in their place.

Marley jumped with joy. "Way to go, Venonat! Now, go for the Arbok and use confusion!"

Venonat nodded with pride, and shot out a confusion attack directly towards the big cobra Pokémon. It paused for a moment, soon after it shook about in a dizzy motion. It's eyes swirled, loosening its constriction just enough for both of the Nidorans to jump out.

"Great job, Venonat!" Called out Marley, holding out her Pokéball. "I think we can handle it now. Return!" The Pokéball opened, and a red beam took in the hopping furry Pokémon.

The blue Nidoran looked towards purple one, making "Nii" sounds to him, as if asking him for forgiveness. He smiled and "Nii"ed back, rubbing his head against his opposite.

So, they both stood beside each other, in battle-ready positions, teaming up to rid of the Arbok.

Marley smiled, then looked towards Ayden. "Haha, that's the spirit! Hey Ayden, wanna team up this time?" She said, pointing to the redhead.

Ayden smiled back. Wow, she can smile?

"Heh, of course." She responded, and soon the two trainers looked towards their Pokémon, the two looking back, nodding in approval.

The Arbok soon retreated from its confusion, although the Ekans still disabled. It hissed at them, causing intimidation to rise.

"Don't let it get to you guys! You can beat 'em!" Shouted the persistent Marley, throwing a fist in the air.

"Nidoran, Fury Swipes!"

"Nidoran, Peck!"

Not too soon after did the two Nidoran obey their trainers, running towards the Arbok for their attacks. The Arbok, sent back a bit by the attacks, wobbled around underneath the two Pokémon as it took the damage, getting back up in a slithering motion as the two Nidoran retreated away.

"Once more!" Said the two trainers, in-sync. As the Nidorans prepared for another attack, the purple one stopped the blue one as it was about to charge, seeming to ask her something as she nods back with confidence in her eyes.

Then, the purple Nidoran ran forward, the blue one stepping backwards. The male soon stopped in his tracks, not too close to the Arbok, who was recuperating from the attacks it just tolerated.

He shouted out, "Nii!" with his head towards the ground, Nina running forward towards her counterpart, hopping on his back and jumping off as it plunged towards the Arbok. She bit deep into the side of the Arbok's head, the cobra shaking about with its eyes closed tightly.

"Whoa! Nina learned bite!" Marley jumped. "Our Nidoran sure know how to team up, huh?" Ayden said as she watched the battle before her.

Finally, the Arbok shook off the Nidoran, hissing at the two Pokémon and retreating into the forest.

The Ekans, no longer paralyzed, rushed to follow their leader, afraid of getting attacked.

Marley ran to her Pokémon who was tossed to the ground, the others following her. "Nina, you okay?"

"Nii!" Shouted Nidoran . Nina, a bit shaken, slowly got up, smiling as she realized she had won the battle. "…Nii!"

Then, she started glowing.

"Wha?!" Ayden and Marley shouted, as the Nidoran emitted a bright light. The purple Nidoran stared in amazement as his friend…

Nina…

Had evolved.

"Ni! Nidorina!"


End file.
